A Manipulative Study of the Effect of Instructional Set on the Convergent and Discriminant Validity of Questionnaire Measures of Trait and State Anxiety: a Comparative Factor Analytic Approach

Abstract

Within the context of a manipulative, laboratory experiment, two hundred and forty-two college students completed an anxiety battery twice. Half the subjects were instructed to answer the trait ("as you feel generally") items differently than the state ("as you feel presently"). Half were given no differential instructions. Subjects were also randomly assigned to one of four treatments designed to simulate alterations in level of state anxiety. Separate factor analyses resulted in distinct trait and state factors under both instructional conditions. Analysis of variance of factor scores indicated that the simulations altered level of state anxiety but not level of trait anxiety. Results were interpreted as generally supporting the validity of the trait-state distinction, but continued refinement of existing measures was recommended.